Dina, I'm sure she is a loving mom. I'm not saying she isn't, but she made a very poor decision. In the other story, 'Westport Police Explain Why Mom Was Charged," it says that the 15-year-old was sick and told to go to sleep. Then, apparently, the mom left the home...both kids asleep. As such, there was no proper supervision.
And apparently, the neighbor who called police didn't know where the girl lived, as it says in the other story. View Comment

Lastcard, if you are driving 120 mph, the police will stop you because you might get into an accident and you might kill someone.
Again, she was charged because of what did happen: the child got out of the house while mom wasn't home, was walking in the street and as a result, the child was put at risk of becoming injured...Maybe that's why it's called risk of injury to a child. But that's just me.
And for those of you who don't read carefully, the 15-year-old brother didn't fall asleep after he was tasked to watch the 2-year-old. Apparently, mom told the 15-year-old to go to sleep because he wasn't feeling well. If this is true, then she knowingly left the house, with both...I'll say it again...both kids asleep. This means the 2-year-old was not being supervised.
I have three children (one set of twin boys) and if something came up during nap time and I absolutely needed to leave the house, guess what? I brought the twins with me. And if they woke up and were crying and cranky, I had to deal with it. So in my mind, that excuse doesn't fly.
So this is the question I have for you: Would you leave your sleeping 2-year-old home with a sick/sleeping 15-year-old who you know isn't going to be watching the 2-year-old?
Everyone saying the police overreacted. No one thinks the police overreact when they catch the person or persons responsible for the burglaries in your neighborhood. No one says they overreact when they show up at your house or on your street after you reported seeing someone "suspicious."
For everyone saying "nothing happened..." should police just let drunk drivers go after pulling them over if they didn't get into an accident? ''Well, you didn't hurt anyone. No harm no foul. You're free to go." ?
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I think everyone who's getting upset over this is being too emotional. I don't know Mrs. Crouch, but I'm sure she's a lovely woman. However, emotions aside, what she did was dumb. Why would you leave your child home with someone who is sleeping? You might as well leave the child home alone.
I would never have left my 2-year-old home with an older sibling after telling him or her go to sleep. As parents, we are supposed to know better.
Why didn't she wait to go grocery shopping until the husband came home, or wait until the 2-year-old woke up from her nap? Grocery shopping is not that important that it warrants leaving the child home with someone who you KNOW isn't going to be watching the child.
Every parent knows that with young children like this, it only takes a minute for something to go wrong. And in this case, it did.
It might seem harsh, but she was charged with risk of injury to a child because of what happened. The girl managed to get out of the house and was put in a risky situation. I mean, the girl could have been hit by a car or fallen on ice and hurt herself, right? ABSOLUTELY. Thankfully, that did not happen, but again, it could have, which is why Mrs. Crouch got charged.
And you say shame on the neighbors? I think they were in the right by calling the police because a 2-year-old walking in the street alone is not normal and is an indicator that something is wrong.
This whole thing is on par with parents who leave their young children alone in the car while they make a "quick stop" into a store.
Let's not blame the police for doing their job. Let's not blame the neighbors or the media. The only person at fault here is the mom. What she did was wrong and absent minded. Let this serve as a reminder to parents: Do not leave your young children home alone with someone who is sick and sleeping.
And I'm sure Mrs. Crouch feels horrible about this, but I bet she won't do that again. View Comment

Veteran, the article says she lives on Easton Road in Westport, so guess she's not homeless.
There is always a reason someone commits a crime, but that doesn't mean they are justified. If I'm hungry and need food, no matter how much I might not want to, I could get a job at McDonald's or Wal-Mart. I see plenty of senior citizens who work at grocery stores or department stores like Wal-Mart, so if money was an issue, I'm sure she could have found a legal way to get paid.
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